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Pastrana balances Nationwide with extreme sports

By JAY COHEN AP Sports Writer

Updated:
07/20/2013 02:56:39 PM EDT

JOLIET, Ill.—Travis Pastrana uses his connections in extreme sports to help fund his car for the Nationwide Series. That's just fine with owner Jack Roush, as long as Pastrana doesn't bring along any of his teammates to one of his more exhilarating expeditions.

Pastrana planned a base-jumping trip for Sprint Cup star Carl Edwards and fellow Roush driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. But it all fell apart, and a smiling Pastrana said Saturday he suspected the 71-year-old Roush might have been behind the failure.

"I guess someone at the office got a hold of it the day before we left because I ended up showing up to the base-jump place all by myself," Pastrana said with a chuckle. "So I assume he's OK with me doing it but he doesn't want me dragging the rest of the crew into that shenanigans."

Pastrana made his Nationwide debut at Richmond in 2012, but this is his first year running a full schedule on NASCAR's second-tier series. He has three top-10 finishes heading into Sunday's STP300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

The former X Games star raved about the circuit before Saturday's practice sessions. But the 30-year-old Pastrana is still in search of his first victory, which he hopes will lead to a long-term sponsor.

"Right now all my funding's coming from everything else," Pastrana said. "It's just interesting. It's just a different world. I have a lot of sponsors that are really waiting to see how I do.